Authenticity of This Book
REV. W. T. BULLOCK, M. A.—It has been the general belief of Christians in all ages that St. John was the writer of this book. The evidence of its authenticity, internal and external, is conclusive. It is supposed to have been written somewhere in the period from A. D. 95 to 97. The historical testimonies that the Apostle John was its author are singularly distinct and numerous. Justin Martyr, about A. D. 150, says: "A man among us whose name was John, one of the Apostles of Christ, in a revelation which was made to him, prophesied that the believers in our Christ shall live a thousand years in Jerusalem." The author of the Muratorian Fragment, about A. D. 170, speaks of St. John as the writer of the Apocalypse, and describes him as a predecessor of St. Paul in the office of Apostle. Melito of Sardes, about A. D. 170, wrote a treatise of the Revelation of John. Theophilus, Bishop of Antioch, about A. D. 180, in a controversy with Hermogenes, quotes passages out of the Revelation of John. Irenæus, about A. D. 195, often quotes the Revelation as the work of John, and describes him as the disciple who was leaning on Jesus' bosom at supper, and asked Him who should betray Him. The testimony of Irenmus is the more important, as it mounts up into the preceding generation, and is virtually that of a contemporary of the Apostle. In vindicating the true reading of " the number of the Beast," he cites not only the old correct copies of the Book, but also the oral testimony of the very persons who themselves had seen St. John face to face. Apollonius of Ephesus, about A. D. 200, in controversy with the Montanists of Phrygia, quoted passages out of the Revelation of John, and narrated a miracle wrought by the Apostle at Ephesus. Clement of Alexandria, about A. D. 200, quotes the book of Revelation as the work of John the Apostle. Tertullian, A. D. 207, quotes by name “the Apostle John in the Apocalypse."
Hippolytus, about A. D. 230, quotes it as the work of St. John. Origen, about A. D. 233, speaking of this apostle, says that "he wrote the Revelation." The testimony of later writers, in the third and fourth centuries, that John the Apostle wrote the Book of Revelation, are equally distinct and far more numerous.— Smith's Dict. of Bible. p. 2723
The Eternal One
PLUTARCH, —The temple of Isis, in Egypt, bore this inscription: “I am all that was, and is, and shall be, and my veil no mortal can remove."—De Is. el Osir., c. 9.
ORPHEUS.—Jupiter is the head, Jupiter is the middle, and all things are made by Jupiter. — In Auctor. Lib. de Mundo,.
PAUSANIAS.—Jupiter was; Jupiter is; Jupiter shall be.—Phocic., c. 12.
The First and the Last
WILLIAM ALDIS WRIGHT, M. A.—The expression, ".I am Alpha and Omega," is illustrated by the usage in Rabbinical writers of Aleph and Tau, the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Jalkut Rubeni said: "Adam transgressed the whole law from Aleph to Tau," that is, from the beginning to the end. In the early times of the Christian church the letters Alpha and Omega were combined with the cross, or with the monogram of Christ. One of the oldest monuments on which this occurs is a marble tablet found in the catacombs at Melos, which belongs, if not to the first century, to the first half of the second.—Smith's Dict. of Bible, p. 73.
Patmos
DR. JOHN KITTO.—Patmos is a small island in the Icarian Sea, about thirty miles from the coast of Asia Minor. It does not exceed fifteen miles in circumference, and is nothing but a continued rock, very mountainous and very barren. Its coast is high, and consists of a series of capes. Its port is a deep gulf on the northeast of the island, sheltered by high mountains on every side but one. The town is situated upon a high rocky mountain, rising immediately from the sea, and contains about 400 houses. In the middle of the town, near the top of the mountain, is the large monastery of St. John the Evangelist. About half-way down the mountain, from the town to the Scala, there is a natural grotto in the rock, in which, tradition says, St. John abode and wrote the Apocalypse. Over this grotto a small church has been built. On account of the stern and desolate character of the island, the Roman emperors thought it a suitable spot to which criminals might be confined. To this island, accordingly, the apostle John was banished by the Emperor Domitian, towards the end of his reign, or about A. D. 95 or 96.—Pict. Bible, In loco.
The Lord's Day
PROF. MOSES STUART.—The term "Lord's Day" was used generally by the early Christians to denote the first day of the week. It occurs twice in the Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians, about A. D. tot., in calls the Lord's Day “the queen and prince of all days." Chrysostom, in Psa. 119, says: "Ii was called the Lord's Day because the Lord rose from the dead on that day." Later Fathers make a marked distinction between the Sabbath and the Lord's Day, meaning by the former the Jewish Sabbath, or the seventh day of the reek, and by the latter the first day of the week, kept holy by the Christians. So Theodoret, speaking of the Elionites, says: "They keep the Sabbath ac-, cording to the Jewish law; and sanctify the Lord's Day in like manner as we do."—In loco.
Seats of the Seven Churches
Rev, 1:11.—What thou seest write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and Unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
PLINY.—A great part of Æolia has recourse to the jurisdiction of Smyrna; but to Ephesus, that other great luminary of Asia, resort the more distant peoples.—Pergamos, by far the most famous city in Asia.—To the jurisdiction of. Pergamos belong the people of Thyatira, and many other states less known to fame.—Twenty-five states resort to Cibyratica for legal purposes, together with the most famous city of Laodicea.—Sardis lies on the side of Mount Tmolus. The jurisdiction is now called by this name, and many people resort to it.— Hist. Nat., lib. v., C. 29, 30, 31, 33.
And send it unto the churches which are in Asia.
REV. THOMAS HARTWELL HORNE, B. D.—That Christian churches had been established at this period throughout Asia Minor is sufficiently attested by Pliny, Governor of Pontus and Bithynia, in his letter to the emperor Trajan, written in A. D. 107, requesting instruction as to the manner in which he should deal with those accused of being Christians. From this letter we learn the great progress Christianity had made. Christians, he tells us, there were everywhere, throughout the whole extent of his province, in cities, in villages, and in the open country. Among them were persons of all ages, of every rank and condition, and of both sexes; and some of them also were citizens of Rome. The prevalence of Christianity appears likewise from the universal decay of Pagan worship: the temples were deserted, and the sacrifices discontinued. Beasts, brought to market for victims, had few purchasers. So many were accused, and were in danger of suffering on account of the prevalence of this opinion, as gave the governor no small concern. Further, it is evident that there were not only many at this time who bore the Christian name, but that such people had been there for many years.—Introduction, I., 84.
The Candlestick Removed
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—There is not the least evidence that the church of Ephesus did repent, and the threatening has been most signally fulfilled. Long: since the church has become utterly extinct, and for ages there was not a single professing Christian there. Every memorial of there having been a church there has departed, and there are nowhere, not even in Nineveh, Babylon, or Tyre, more affecting demonstrations of the fulfillment of ancient prophecy than in the present state of the ruins of Ephesus.— Note, In loco.
GIBBON.—In the loss of Ephesus, the Christians deplored the fall of the first Angel, the extinction of the first Candlestick of the Revelations; the desolation, is complete; and the temple of Diana, or the church of Mary, will equally elude the search of the curious traveler.—Decline and Fall, Chapter 64.
Smyrna
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—Smyrna was, a celebrated commercial town of Ionia (Ptol. V.), situated near the bottom of that Gulf of the Ægean Sea which received its name from it (Mela. I.), at the mouth of the small river Meles, 320 stadia, or forty miles, north of. Ephesus. (Strab., XV.) It was a very ancient city, but having been destroyed by the Lydians, it lay waste for 400 years, or to, the time of Antigonus. It was rebuilt at the distance of twenty stadia from the ancient city, and in the time of the first Roman emperor it was one of the most flourishing cities of Asia. It was destroyed by an earthquake, A. D. 177,. but the emperor Marcus Aurelius caused it to be rebuilt with more than its former splendor.— Note, In loco.
PROF. H. B. HACKETT, LL. D.—Smyrna was forty miles from Ephesus. Paul preached the Gospel there at an early date. The Apostle John must often have passed between the two places during his long life at Ephesus. The spot: where Polycarp is supposed to have been burnt at the stake is near the ruins of a stadium on the hill behind the present town. It may be the exact spot, or certainly near there, for it is the place where the people were accustomed to meet for public spectacles. Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, touched at Smyrna on his voyage to Rome, where he was thrown to wild beasts in the amphitheater, about A. D. 108. Two of his letters were addressed to Polycarp and the Smyrneans. Smyrna is the only one of the Seven Churches which retains any importance at the present time. Its population is stated to be 150,000, nearly one-half of whom are Mohammedans.—Smith's Dict. of Bible, p. 3064.
Tribulation for Ten Days
Rev.2:10—Behold the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days.
BISHOP THOMAS NEWTON, D. D.—To the church of Smyrna it is predicted, that she should " have tribulation ten days," or ten years, according to the usual style of prophecy: and the greatest persecution that the primitive church ever endured, was the persecution of Diocletian, which lasted ten years, and grievously afflicted all the Asian, and indeed all the eastern churches.—Dissert., XXIV.
Pergamos
PROF. CHARLES ANTHON, LL. D.—Pergamos was the most important city of Mysia, situate in the southern part of that country, on the Caicus. It is first mentioned by Xenophon. After passing through various vicissitudes, it continued to flourish and prosper as a Roman city, so that Pliny does not scruple to style it the fairest city of Asia. To the Christian the history of Pergamos affords an additional interest, since it was one of the seven churches of Asia, mentioned in the book of Revelation.— Classical Dictionary.
BISHOP THOMAS NEWTON, D. D.—Pergamos is still called Bergamo, and is situated sixty-four miles north of Smyrna. It has some good buildings, but more ruins. It is mainly occupied by Turks. One Christian church only remains, that dedicated to St. Theodorus. The cathedral church of St. John is buried in its own ruins; their "angel” or bishop long since removed; and its fair pillars adorn the graves, and rotten carcasses of its destroyers, the Turks. Its other fine church, called Santa Sophia, is turned into a mosque, and daily profaned with the blasphemies of the false prophet.—Dissert., XXIV.
The White Stone
DR. JOHN KITTO.—It is a remarkable fact that in the vicinity of Pergamos an unusual number of white stones cover the ground in every direction, and the traveler can hardly fail to be struck with the applicability of the words in which the Scriptural promise to this church is couched.-.Pict. Bib., In loco.
OVID.—
A custom was of old, and still remains,
Which life or death by suffrages ordains:
White stones and black within an urn are cast;
The first absolve, but fate is on the last.
—Metam., XV., 41.
PLUTARCH.—Heaven was favorable both to Cimon and Lucullus, directing the one what he should do, and the other what he should avoid; so that each obtained the stone from the gods as persons in whom there was something excellent and divine.—Comp. Cim. c. 3.
Thyatira
PROF. CHARLES ANTHON, LL. D.—Thyatira was a city of Lydia, near the northern confines, situate on the small river Lycus, not far from its source. This city, according to Strabo, belonged originally to Mysia; from the time of Pliny, however, we find it ascribed to Lydia. Its ruins are now called Ak Hisar.—Classical Dictionary.
Sardis
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—Sardis was the capital of the ancient kingdom of, Lydia, one of the provinces of Asia Minor, and was situated at the foot of Mount Tmolus, in a fine plain watered by the river Patoclus, famous for its golden sands. It was the capital where the celebrated Crœsus, proverbial for, his wealth, reigned. The inhabitants of Sardis bore an ill repute among the ancients for their voluptuous mode of living: perhaps there may be an allusion to this fact, in the words which are used in the address to the church there, " Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments."— Note, In loco.
REV. J. HARTLEY.—The ruins of Sardis are, with one exception, more entirely gone to decay than those of most of the ancient cities which we have visited. No Christians reside on the spot: two Greeks only work in a mill here, and a few wretched Turkish huts are scattered among the ruins. We saw the churches of St. John and the Virgin, the theater, and the building styled the Palace of Crœsus; but the most striking object at Sardis is the temple of Cybele. I was filled with wonder and awe at beholding the two stupendous columns of this edifice, which are still remaining; they are silent but impressive witnesses of the power and splendor of antiquity.—In Pict. Bib.
The Suddenness of the Visitation
EMERSON.—I am not sufficiently versed in theological lore to trace the gradations of the fall of Sardis; but its overthrow came "like a thief in the night," during that earthquake which, in the reign of Tiberius, leveled its proudest compeers with the dust.—Letters from the Ægean.
Philadelphia
REV. ALBERT BARNES.—Philadelphia stood about twenty-five miles southeast from Sardis, in the plain of Hermas. It was the second city in Lydia, and was built by king Attalus Philadelphus, from whom it received its name. In the year B. C. 133 the place passed, with the country in the vicinity, under the dominion of the Romans. The site is reported by Strabo to be liable to earthquakes, but it continued to be a place of importance down to the Byzantine age; and, of all the towns in Asia Minor, it withstood the Turks the longest. It was taken by Bajazat, A. D. 1392.—Note,, In loco.
A Pillar
Rev. Hi: 12.—Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out.
DR. JOHN KITTO.—At Philadelphia there are few ruins; but in one part are four pillars, which are supposed to have been columns of a church. One solitary pillar has been often noticed, as reminding beholders of the remarkable words in the Apocalypse, “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God."—Kita s Cyclop.
GIBBON.—This city at length capitulated with the proudest of the Ottomans. Among the Greek colonies and churches of Asia, Philadelphia is still erect, a column in a scene of ruins.— Decline and Fall, Chapter 64.
And I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God.
HARTLEY.—The circumstance that Philadelphia is now called Allah-Shehr, the City of God, when viewed in connection with the promises made to that church, and especially with that of “writing the name of the City of God " upon its faithful members, is, to say the least, a singular occurrence.— In Keith's Evid. from Proph.
Laodicea
DR. JOHN SAUL HOWSON.—The two passages in the New Testament where the city of Laodicea is mentioned, define its geographical position in harmony with other authorities. It was situated in the valley of the Mæander, on a small river called the Lycus, with Colosse and Hierapolis a few miles distant to the west. Built, or rather rebuilt, by one of the Seleucid monarchs, and named in honor of his wife, Laodicea became under the Roman government a place of some importance. The damage which was caused in the reign of Tiberius was promptly repaired by the energy of the inhabitants. It was soon after this occurrence that Christianity was introduced into Laodicea.... In subsequent times it became a Christian city of eminence, the seat of a bishop, and a meeting-place of councils. It is often mentioned by the Byzantine writers. The Mohammedan invaders destroyed it, and it is now a scene of utter desolation; but the extensive ruins near Denislu justify all that we read of Laodicea in Greek and Roman writers. Many travelers have visited and described the place.—Smith's Dict. of Bible.
Lukewarmness
DR. ALEXANDER KEITH. —Laodicea was the mother church of sixteen bishoprics. Its three theaters, and the immense circus, which was capable of containing upwards of 30,000 spectators, the spacious remains of which are yet, to be seen, give proof of the greatness of its ancient wealth and population, and ' indicate too strongly that in that city, where Christians were rebuked, without exception, for their lukewarmness, there were multitudes who were lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. The fate of Laodicea, though opposite, has been no less marked than that of Philadelphia. There are no sights of grandeur nor scenes of temptation around it now. Its own tragedy may be briefly told. It was lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot; and therefore it was loathsome in the sight of God. It was loved, and rebuked, and chastened, in vain. And it has been blotted from the world. It is now as desolate as its inhabitants were destitute of the fear and love of God; and as the church c the Laodiceans was devoid of true faith in the Savior and zeal in his service, it is, as described by Dr. Smith, "utterly desolate, and without any inhabitant, except wolves, and jackals, and foxes." A fearful significance is thus given to the terrific denunciation, “Because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth."—Evidence of Prophecy, p. 259.
The New Earth
PRINCIPAL J. W. DAWSON, LL. D., F. R. S.—If it pleased God to create in the beginning an earth "formless and void," and to elaborate from this all that has since existed, who are we, to say that the plan was not the best? Nor would it detract from our view of the creative wisdom and power if we were to hold that in ages to come the sun may experience the same change that has befallen the earth, and may become "black as sackcloth of hair," preparatory, perhaps, to changes which may make him also the abode of life; or if the earth, cooling still further, should, like our satellite the moon, absorb all its waters and gases into its bosom, and become bare, dry and parched, until there shall be " no more sea," how do we know but that then there shall be no more "need of the sun," because a better light may be provided? Or that there may not be a new baptism of fire in store for the earth, whereby, being melted with fervent heat, it may renew its youth in the fresh and heavenly loveliness of "a new heaven and a new earth," free from all the evils and imperfections of the present?—Story of the Earth and Man, p. 15.
DR. WILLIAM FRASER.—There is to be "dissolution," not annihilation; there is to be a new economy, “a new heaven and a new earth." The sublime announcements of St. Peter and of the Apocalyptic Seer, so long accepted by many apologists as invested with Merely poetic drapery, and so long sneered at as sensational by rigorous physicists, have been rescued from misinterpretation. The statement that “there shall be no more sea," can only be ridiculed by those who are ignorant of the truths which the natural sciences have already evolved and vindicated.—Blending. Lights, p. 31.
See 2 Peter 3 Jo and 13.
Conclusion
DANIEL MARCH, D. D.—So we might go over all the lands named in the Bible, and search through all the museums that are stored with relics from the graves of the past, and we should gather from all our researches increasing light to throw upon' the page of Divine Revelation. The student of the Bible has nothing to fear, but everything to gain, from the increase of knowledge on all subjects, from all sources, among all classes of men. No matter how far the boldest and keenest inquirers may carry their investigations, every real discovery, every established fact in science, in history, in nature, must be in harmony with the Word of God, and must promote its mission of light and instruction in the world.
Let the astronomer explore the heavens and trace the pathway of worlds on the high fields of immensity. Let him analyze the floating fire-mist in the midnight sky, and conjecture the countless centuries that must pass while it is condensing and rounding itself into suns and systems. Let the geologist mine his way down to the foundations of the earth, and read the inscriptions which the centuries have written on the eternal rocks. Let, the naturalist trace connection and development along all the ascending grades of being, from the floating slime of the sea to the full-formed and perfect man. Let the physiologist trace, if he can, the electric chain with which the immortal mind is darkly bound to its perishable prison of flesh. Let the linguist find out what he can from the study of all languages and all literature concerning the unity or diversity of race. Let the sacred record itself be subjected to the most severe and exhaustive criticism in every statement of fact and in every declaration of principle. Let tireless millions run to and fro through all the earth, and increase all departments of human knowledge, until the student stands aghast at the mountainous accumulation. Still the one book of Divine Revelation shall be in harmony with all truth. For its full, perfect vindication before the world, it is only necessary that students, critics and common people shall become honest, diligent, candid disciples of the truth.—Researches and Travel in Bible Lands, in "Wood's Animals of the Bible," p. 710.